Friday, October 23, 2015

I have so enjoyed the workshops held at Maleny Magic. I met Judith a while ago when I taught a beginners introduction to Crazy Quilting. I could see that Judith was going to love the creativity of Crazy.

The contrast of her embroidery on the dark navy of this Asian fabrics is gorgeous.....

Not a great photo - but you can still see all her lovely beadwork.

I love the centre silk ribbon seam treatment.

Cute spider too............and the beaded feather stitch.......

Isn't this too lovely??

And this??

I cannot wait to see it all put together.
Judith has used a combination of Colour Streams and silk ribbons that she dyes herself.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Rosemary and I both grew up in Africa - Rosemary from Zimbabwe and I am originally from South Africa - we both immigrated to Australia. Rosemary has saved so many treasures over the years which she includes in her crazy quilting.

She told me that she is going to journal her crazy hexagons so that her children and grandchild will know the history of each piece of fabric.
The "Victoria Falls Hotel" (featured in the hexie below) is a very, very famous hotel in Zimbabwe - I have spent a few nights there, like so many tourists do.

Rosemary, like so many crazy quilters, is so generous sharing buttons and beads etc.

How cute are the little people in this hexie?

This little booty was knitted by Rosemary's mother for her first child.

Name tags from her school uniform ...................

Now for some close-ups..........Suffolk puffs, insects and scissors................

Tiny quilts..........

Silk ribbons and charms...........

Lace and fabric from her mother's wedding dress...............

Cute people buttons......

Now onto Gail's work. I have been teaching some of the students Brazilian embroidery - I am not a purist when it comes to embroidery, so my Brazilian embroidery is a lot bigger and bolder than perhaps it should be. Gail has taken her work to another level.

I have been teaching crazy quilting at the Patchwork Angel http://www.patchworkangel.com.au/oscomm/ for about 8 years - wow - how time flies. Although I do travel and teach at other venues, The Angel is my home base, 8 classes a month there keeps me nice and busy.
At the beginning of this year, we started another beginners class on Thursday afternoon. These lovely ladies have now been coming to the crazy classes for 9 months and we are putting the finishing touches to their blocks.
I feel so fortunate to be able to teach crazy. I get to meet so many wonderful women, who share their stash, stories and friendship. It's a wonderful thing.
Ok, I will stop with the emotional stuff now.
Sharon's work is oh so pretty and her work is delicate.
Enjoy!

Its quite difficult to keep a delicate colour palette delicate without making it look washed out - but Sharon did it effortlessly.

A few insects buzzing around.

A great little button cluster.

Feather stitches everywhere - my favourite stitch.

So much to see without losing the "shape" of the block.

I am often asked why I very, very seldom include lace and motifs in my crazy. So, therefore, my students often don't include them in their work too. I am sure you agree that lace would have suited Sharon's work perfectly. Its not that I do not like the look of lace etc. but I personally much prefer to have embroidery or some sort of embellishments that we are able to create as seam treatments.

It's been so good teaching this group. Their work is diverse and interesting just like the women themselves.